Quinte Fishing

Well, as it gets colder the bigger walleye are starting to get more and more active. We have hit fish trolling boards for the last month, however we have also started getting walleye jigging.

So the question is:

Would you prefer to troll boards for walleye? Seeing that board drop back and get pounded by a 10+lber is just amazing. It's also a method that allows you to get the bait away from the boat and let's you run multiple lines. But....some guys say, it's an amazing fight...and some guys say it's like dragging in a garbage bag, the fish just doesn't fight much.

or

The snap jigging technique on Quinte is incredibly popular and productive... Having the feel of a 10+lber load up on your jigging spoon (or other bait) is like nothing you'ver ever felt. The fight is usually a solid pumping and running of dead weight. Watching the gold rise to the surface in front of your eyes is INCREDIBLE!!!!

Now, consider....Are you looking for lot's of BIG fish (trolling), or are you looking for numbers of smaller fish, with a strong chance of a monster and a much more exciting fight (Jigging)?

Let's have it, what's your preference?

Cheers, Hodgey...

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Gary Hodge
NPAA 518

I spend the winter jigging so i perfur to troll myself.......... since most go back and i can only keep two numbers dont mean all that much, I like to relax and cover water. see the sights, shoot the breeze if im fishing with a pal, but hey... fishing is fishing, does it really matter? lol

I know that I don't come to the legendary Bay of Quinte for any other reason than trophies. I know an occasional can be had jigging and actually catching one on a jig is better than reeling a board in trolling. There is no question however that trolling produces bigger fish. When trolling , we keep fish that are 5 lbs or under which is usually all we need for the belly. Jiggin definatley has it's place, its just not quinte for me.

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U.S.C.G. Licensed Captain
Pure Fishing Ambassador

I grew up hand lining on the lower Detroit river, so trolling has always seemed natural to me, and I found it easy to start using boards. I can relate to Grizzly's views- about the only time I'll try jigging is when I'm not having any success trolling.

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Past President
Ottawa Region Walleye League
186 Blue & White Princecraft, 140 HP Johnson

Landshark put it properly....for me anyway.

also, by the time we get up there, the normal jiggin' spots are frozen over. (hopefully!)

I'm also the only person on the planet who TROLLS for erie smallies...draggin' and droppin' (tubes and drop shots) aren't my thing....

who knows, next year you might see me trolling deep cranks on weed lines for largies...trolling is just so much fun!

i often do both, i use jigging to target large fish, i will find deep structure or drop offs, use a reel with a counter so i target the right dept, (if fish finder says there's a fish at 20 feet, i will drop it 18, as i have all ways under stood that the fish strike up), live bait works well (large minnows), or a night crawler on a white jig head.

your not the only one that trolls for smallies, i love it too, produces lots of monsters.

fireball, that is great to hear!

trolling big water for smallies is amazing...easy...and fun!

we get alot of lake ontario smallies trolling for brown trout, and walleye

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U.S.C.G. Licensed Captain
Pure Fishing Ambassador

hi guys have not been on quinte for many years but i have to say i love jigging, im gonna try to get some trolling this year for the fall and hope to catch some eyes.. the question i have is when jigging in the fall i asume your jig is suspended above the walleye and you are not jigging fish off the bottom..so if the fish are in 60 feet of water and the walleye are in 30 feet of water i should jig them at about 28 feet of water?? i have never fish for walleye this way .. other species i have but not walleye..what do you usually jig with and how hard do you jig when jigging..thanks all for your info..

Ole blue
the troller for sure
blue

I started my walleye angling in the 70s casting cranks from a boat & from shore on West Lake.
In the 70s I prefected my jigging technique in the Trenton River during the days in the spring and trolling cranks at night in the fall.
The 80s & 90s when not salmon fishing, I trolled Lake O for the monsters. Big bay for the eaters, & the Trent at night with cranks.
The last 10 years a combination of the above.

Like Grizz says, jigging all winter, we prefer trolling this time of year.

Later
Al

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Captain - Team ATOMMIK/Rockets

I too am with the majority.
I prefer trolling open water, leave the jigging 'til the winter.

FISH HUNTER

In my personal opinion Quinte in the fall has always been about catching a fish of a life-time for me. Most days trolling you are hard pressed to land a fish under 25 inches and every fall a few of those 15lb class monsters come into the net while trolling open water. So it has never been about numbers for me, all I need is one big bite and I hope it is the Canadian record fish.

If I want to jig up small eaters all day long I can do that in my back yard lakes and rivers any day of the week and save lots of money travelling down to Quinte hunting for that monster.

Also just for the record my favourite way to fish walleye is jigging and bottom bouncing with hand held rods, but the larger fish seem to come on the troll. Every walleye I have landed 15 pounds and over in all my years walleye fishing was taken on the troll.

-sheldon

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Fish On...
Sheldon Hatch
NPAA 928

Up until last year, I would have said that I prefer to jig fish on the Q as there is certainly more activity (100+ fish days). However, as we've expandedour trolling techniques and experimented with new things (leadcore, Dipsys, Riggers, Slide Divers), I much rather prefer trolling.

Furthermore; not to knock jigging, I feel there is more "planning" and "hunting" when it comes to trolling. Depths, Dive Curves, Bait selection/color, water temps, wind etc. There are more variables (IMO) that are involved which make landing that troll fish more rewarding. Some days you WORK VERY HARD for those fish and when a plan comes together, it feels more rewarding. Not to mention when 4 guys on a boat dive for a rod and mayhem ensues. It's quite comical!

Don't get me wrong, I love to drag jigs, but I am more fulfilled when a fish comes from trolling. Regardless of size....

Great topic Hodgey..

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Grant

I am a troller, will do as the boat does

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i am from the new york and own a place on green pt. have fished here for over 30 yrs.